miracle (miracle) wrote in luke_noah, @ 2008-11-07 09:25:00 |
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Current mood: | thoughtful |
Current music: | Hannah Montana 2 |
Entry tags: | -[luke/noah]-, fanfic, fanfic: [alternate universe], ยป by: sagiegurl |
Fic: Deception
Original poster: sagiegurl
Fic: Deception (Chapter Eight)
Author: </a></b></a>sagiegurl
Rating: PG-13 for language
Warnings: Angst
Summary: AU Luke and Noah at age 27
So I lost movtivation for this story for a little while,but I'm back to wrap it up. Hopefully a few of you are still interested enough to want to see what happens next. Enjoy! Comments are love!
***
Noah pulls into a space then puts the car in park. He looks over at Maddie who is in the passenger’s seat staring at something in her hands. She looks happy and sad at the same time, if that’s possible.
“What are you looking at?” Noah asks softly.
“Just a picture of Lucy. You know, she is the only good thing that came out of my relationship with Casey. He is such a user, Noah. I don’t want him to use me anymore.”
“He can’t, Maddie. You’re stronger than you were before. You won’t let him use you.”
“I don’t know. If he hadn’t gone to jail, I would have never left him.”
“Yes you would have, Maddie.”
“No, I wouldn’t have. Even after all of the stuff that he did, I still loved him. I wanted him back when he was gone. I was so lonely without him. That’s why it was so great when you came along. You were just as miserable as I was. We were a perfect match.”
“Yeah I guess we were.” Noah chuckles to himself.
“That’s why I’m so sacred, Noah. Casey used to have this power over me. What if he still does?”
“What do you think he’s going to do, Maddie?”
“I think he’s going to tell me whatever he thinks I want to hear. He’s going to say all the right things in an effort to get me to trust him again so he can swoop in and destroy my life.”
“Maddie, you’re not alone this time. Casey was able to get to you back then because you didn’t have anyone. You have a support system. It will be easier this time. I’m always going to be there for you. No matter what, okay?”
Maddie doesn’t answer she just shakes her head and looks back at her picture. Noah sits quietly in the driver’s seat and looks at his watch. Casey said he would meet them here at the Mission Ave. Park. If he is on time he should be arriving in about 5 minutes.
“Maddie, let me use your phone. I’m going to call Luke to see if everything is fine with Lucy.”
Maddie just nods and passes over the phone. Noah dials Luke’s cell phone and waits for him to answer.
“Hello?” Lucy says.
“Hey, princess! Where is Luke?”
“He’s right here.” She says laughing.
“Why are you answering his phone?”
“Because I want to ask you a question.”
“What is it, princess?”
“When are you and Mommy coming back? Luke and I want to go get breakfast like you said we would.”
“We wanted to take you to breakfast, but Mommy has to meet our friend right now. We should be back very soon. Are you having fun with Luke?”
“Yeah. Luke is funny.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you still want breakfast when we get back then we will go get you some breakfast. But you might want lunch by then.”
“No, Daddy. We want pancakes.”
“With whip cream and strawberries.” He can hear Luke say in the background.
“Yeah,” Lucy continues, “and syrup and chocolate chips.”
“Okay, princess we will get all of that when Mommy and I get home. Can I talk to Luke now?”
“Uh huh. But Daddy.”
“Yes, princess?”
“Can you and Mommy and Luke tuck me in tonight?”
“You want us all to tuck you in?”
“Yup.”
“I think we can do that.”
“I love you, Daddy. Luke!”
Lucy passes the phone to Luke. But before Luke comes on the line Noah can hear him telling Lucy to go pick out a movie for them to watch together. Noah thinks Lucy is going to be fine with the changes that will be occurring. Everything will work out as long as Casey doesn’t ruin it.
“What’s up?” Luke asks.
“Just wanted to check that everything is okay with you two.”
“Are you kidding? I miss babysitting. I haven’t gotten to do it since Ethan was a baby. We are having a blast, but we still want breakfast later, right Lucy?”
“Right!” She yells in the background.
“Okay,” Noah says to Luke, “Just a few things. If she gets thirsty--”
“There is apple juice in the fridge,” Luke finishes.
“Right and if she gets tired and takes a nap just make sure you give her--”
“The Disney Princess blanket. I know, Noah.”
“Yeah but how do you know?”
“Maddie told me.”
“When? Where was I?”
“I think it was when you were on the phone with Casey setting up a meeting place.”
“Oh right.”
“Look don’t worry about us, Noah. We will be fine.”
“If you say so.”
Maddie nudges Noah’s arm and points out the window. He sees Casey making his way over to a bench in the middle of the park.
“Hey, I have to go. Casey just showed up. I’ll call you when we are done here, okay?”
“Okay. Good luck,” Luke says before he hangs up.
Maddie shudders visibly. Noah puts a comforting arm around her and rubs her shoulder. He can only imagine what must be going through her head right now. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to do this. Noah is more than a little pissed at Casey for not respecting Maddie’s wishes and just leaving her alone. Showing up at their doorstep, then holding a phone as ransom, is a little extreme. At least after today they won’t have to deal with him anymore.
“All right,” he says, “ Lets get this over with.”
“Noah, can you hold my hand?” Maddie asks timidly.
“Of course, Maddie.”
“And don’t let go of it, okay?”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“And do me a favor. Let me handle this with Casey I really need to do this on my own. I just need you to be there to hold me together.”
“Strong and silent. I got it.” He says, “I’m just the muscle.” Maddie laughs a little then leans over to press a kiss on Noah’s forehead.
They step out of the car and walk hand in hand over to where Casey is sitting on the park bench. It is a bright beautiful morning, but Noah can feel gloom and grayness radiating from his wife. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze as they come up to Casey. He stands from the bench to greet them. Casey takes Noah’s cell phone out of his pocket and waves it at him. He tosses it at Noah who starts to use both hands to catch it but remembers his promise to Maddie when she won’t let go of his hand. He uses his free hand to grab it from the air.
“Nice catch, man,” Casey says cheerfully.
“Cut the bullshit, Casey. You wanted to talk to me, now talk!” Maddie demands.
“Do you guys want to sit or something?” he asks.
“No we will stand, thank you very much!”
“Okay, okay! So is he going to stay?” Casey asks pointing to Noah.
“Yeah, you got a problem with that?”
“No. Not at all. I just thought we might talk alone.”
“Not a chance, Casey.”
Noah is silent during the whole exchange. He tucks his phone into his pocket and just stands there since Maddie is refusing to sit. She is so stubborn sometimes. Lucy can be stubborn too, just like her mom. It’s one trait about his girls that he actually enjoys. Noah tends to be a pushover and he appreciates the fact that the ladies in his life are able to stand up for themselves and never back down. Well sometimes he appreciates it.
“Look, Maddie,” Casey starts.
“Don’t you ‘look Maddie’ me. You have five minutes asshole then my husband and I are leaving so you better start talking and chose your words wisely.”
“Maddie, I was hoping to sit and talk awhile, but since you are giving me a time limit, I will summarize it.”
“That’s probably best,” she spits back.
“Okay, here goes. I’m still in love with you. I never stopped loving you. I’m so that sorry I hurt you, that was never my intention. I’m not on drugs anymore and I will never do drugs again. I live at home with my parents and I’m going to school part time. I have a job at the bookstore on campus. All I wanted to do when I got out of jail was find you so I could win you back. I found out you were married and I was crushed. But I understand why you didn’t wait around for me and I was prepared to move on. I just wanted to get this all off my chest so I could do that. That is why I kept calling. So I could get some closure.”
“You were prepared to move on? Does that mean you’re not anymore?” she asks confused.
“No. I’m not anymore.”
“Why? What changed?”
“Well now that I’ve seen you and talked to you I know I still have a chance.”
“I’m married, Casey. What chance to you think you have?” Maddie cries angrily.
“You’re still in love with me. I can tell.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she screams.
People in the park start to stare at them. Luckily there aren’t any children within earshot of their conversation.
“Yes. I do, Maddie.” Casey says, “ I know you and I know you still love me.”
“Are you fucking crazy? I hate you!”
“Hate isn’t the opposite of love, Maddie. Indifference is the opposite of love. If you hate me, it means you are still emotionally invested in me.”
“Just shut up, Casey. I don’t want to hear any of this.” Tears start streaming down her face. Noah can tell he is really upsetting her.
“Maddie, I will prove to you that there’s a reason you still love me. I’m going to redeem myself so that you’ll want to come back to me.”
“I’m married, Casey. I don’t love you. I love Noah.”
“Maddie I know you well enough to know when you’re lying.”
“You’re telling me I don’t love my husband?”
“I’m sure you love him, just not the way you love me. You never get over your first love, Maddie. You were mine and I was yours, we both know that.”
Maddie just shakes her head and turns to Noah.
“I can’t do this. Don’t you see what he’s doing? He’s trying to trick me. He’s trying to confuse me. He’s trying to control me again.” Noah starts to speak, but Casey interrupts him.
“I will never do any of those things to you, Maddie.” Casey pleas, “ I want you to be with me because it’s what you want, not because it’s what I want. I’m willing to fight for you, but I’m going to fight fair.”
Maddie isn’t even looking at him anymore. She is just crying into Noah’s shoulder. Noah can feel her tears soaking his shirt. He hates to see her cry and knows they need to leave right away. He’s never seen Maddie so upset. She is trembling and the way she is clinging to him it seems like her legs may give out at any moment. Noah turns to Casey.
“We’re leaving, okay? You said what you wanted to say. I’m taking my wife home.”
“Just one more thing. It’s really important.”
Maddie just whispers to Noah. “No. No more.”
They both start to walk towards the car. Maddie is trying to run, but is having a hard time since she is so distraught. Noah is practically dragging her so it is making it hard for them walk fast. As they make their way from the center of the park back to the parking lot, they can hear Casey following them and shouting.
“Noah, it’s about your phone.”
Noah’s breath catches. Casey knows something, he must know something. He and Maddie stop walking. He doesn’t turn around just stands frozen facing away from Casey’s voice.
“Did you go through my phone? You promised you wouldn’t.”
“Look I said I wouldn’t look through your phone and I didn’t. But your screen saver, man.
“What about it?”
“It’s a picture of your kid.”
“So?” he says. Noah knows what is coming, but for some reason he still isn’t prepared to hear the words.
“So the thing is I think she’s my kid.”
Noah’s stomach flip-flops. He feels like he’s on a roller coaster with a 250 foot drop. Maddie suddenly releases the tight grip she’s had on him for the last couple of minutes. He looks over to his side to see her falling down on the grass beside him. He immediately kneels down and tries to revive her. She doesn’t respond. Maddie just lays on the ground completely still. Casey rushes over where they are.
“What happened?” he asks worriedly.
“I think she fainted,” Noah responds frantically.
“Oh my god, man. What should we do?”
“She’s pregnant so I don’t want to take any chances.” Noah says, “ I’m calling 911.”
.